Why It Pays to Find a Refiner for Silver, the “Forgotten” Precious Metal
Shown: silver for fabrication of jewelry, silverware, electronics, X-rays, sputtering targets and other scrap Specialty Metals recycles and refines.
When you think about recycling precious metals, you probably think first of gold, palladium, platinum, rhodium and other “high end” precious metals. You’re smart to think that way. After all, some of them can be worth $1,000 per ounce or even more.
You’re probably not thinking about silver. It’s often the “forgotten” precious metal - the one that you think about last. Silver doesn’t sound sexy. Its price is currently hovering at about $20 an ounce, so it’s worth much less than many other precious metals. But the fact is, a silver refiner can probably write you much bigger checks for your silver-bearing scrap recyclables than you expect, for a simple reason.
You probably have more silver than you believe – possibly a lot more of it.
In addition to jewelry and silverware, it’s widely used in:
- Automotive components
- Quantities of plated buttons, trophies, incentive rewards and other easy-to-overlook items
- Coated plastics
- Electronic devices of all kinds
- Gauges and measuring devices
- Mirrors and machines that contain them
- Quantities of silver, gold, aluminum, or other metallic paint
- Rechargeable and other batteries of many kinds – many contain valuable quantities of silver cadmium
- Silver salts and other unneeded chemicals
- Silver-plated metal scrap
- Used or unneeded sputtering targets
- Thermocouples
- Unused photographic, medical and dental films of all kinds – some of which could be lying around because they are no longer needed
- Unused welding supplies
- X-ray equipment and supplies
And don’t forget silver alloys...
In addition to silver cadmium (mentioned above), many other alloys contain silver too. Sometimes it’s easy to overlook them, because their names don’t even mention silver. They have names like Argentium, Billon, Electrum, Goloid, and even Shibuichi. Don’t overlook their value.
Not sure what you have or whether it contains silver that you can turn into dollars? Call Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners at 800-426-2344 and our expert representatives can help you discover the real value of your scrap and unused silver-bearing materials.